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Government · head to head

NEOGOV vs TunnelBear

NEOGOV logo

NEOGOV

Government

Public sector HR suite covering civil service recruiting, onboarding, training and policy management

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
T

TunnelBear

Cybersecurity

Consumer VPN with a limited free tier and a bear-themed, beginner-friendly app

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only TunnelBear has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: NEOGOV each module is shallower than the specialist product it competes with, so agencies buying the full suite for coherence accept weaker performance management and learning than they would get separately.; TunnelBear free plan's data cap is small compared to competitors offering more generous free allowances.
  • They diverge on capability: NEOGOV covers Civil service recruiting, TunnelBear covers Encrypted VPN tunnel.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which NEOGOV and TunnelBear actually diverge.

Attributes where NEOGOV and TunnelBear differ
AttributeNEOGOVTunnelBear
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquotefreemium
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Androidwindows, mac, linux, ios, android
CategoryGovernmentCybersecurity

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in NEOGOV

  • Civil service recruiting
  • Veterans preference handling
  • GovernmentJobs.com posting
  • Onboarding workflows
  • Learning and training records
  • Policy management

Only in TunnelBear

  • Encrypted VPN tunnel
  • Server location switching
  • GhostBear obfuscation
  • Browser extensions
  • Teams account management

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

NEOGOV

  • A city or county HR department that must run scored examinations and ranked eligibility listsnot TunnelBear
  • A public safety agency needing policy acknowledgement records that stand up in litigationnot TunnelBear
  • An agency replacing a commercial applicant tracking system that cannot handle veterans preferencenot TunnelBear
  • A school district or university consolidating recruiting, onboarding and mandated training recordsnot TunnelBear

TunnelBear

  • Casual browsing protection on public Wi-Finot NEOGOV
  • Occasional geo-unblocking with a light free allowancenot NEOGOV
  • Bypassing network-level VPN blocking via obfuscationnot NEOGOV
  • Managing VPN access for a small team with centralized billingnot NEOGOV

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

NEOGOV

  • Each module is shallower than the specialist product it competes with, so agencies buying the full suite for coherence accept weaker performance management and learning than they would get separately.
  • Policy management arrived through the PowerDMS acquisition rather than being built in, and the join between it and the rest of the suite still reads as two products.
  • Implementation is long and configuration heavy because the civil service rules that make the product valuable have to be encoded for your jurisdiction, and that work is billed.
  • Pricing is not published and scales with headcount, so a large agency can pay several times what a comparable one pays without knowing it unless someone reads the public contracts.
  • Private equity ownership since the Warburg Pincus investment has coincided with an acquisition led strategy, and buyers should expect further products bolted on rather than deeper integration of the existing ones.

TunnelBear

  • Free plan's data cap is small compared to competitors offering more generous free allowances.
  • Lacks advanced features like dedicated IP addresses or split-tunneling controls found in some rival VPNs.
  • Server network is smaller than large competitors like NordVPN or ExpressVPN.
  • No standalone router-level app, limiting whole-network protection options.

Pricing, plan by plan

NEOGOV

On request
  • NEOGOV Suite$undefined/year
    • Quoted per module and scaled by employee headcount
    • Implementation and data migration priced separately from the subscription
    • Available through cooperative purchasing and state term contracts

TunnelBear

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 2GB of data per month
    • Access to VPN servers
    • Unlimited devices
  • Unlimited$9.99/month
    • Unlimited monthly data
    • All server locations
    • Cheaper on annual/3-year billing
  • Teams$undefined/month
    • Unlimited data
    • 5 connected devices per user
    • Dedicated account manager

Which should you pick?

Choose NEOGOV if

  • You need civil service recruiting.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want veterans preference handling.
NEOGOV review

Choose TunnelBear if

  • You need encrypted vpn tunnel.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on windows, mac, linux, ios, android.
  • You also want server location switching.
TunnelBear review

Questions people ask

Is NEOGOV or TunnelBear better?
Neither clearly leads. NEOGOV starts at On request and TunnelBear at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, NEOGOV or TunnelBear?
TunnelBear has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for NEOGOV and Free for TunnelBear.
Does NEOGOV or TunnelBear run on more platforms?
NEOGOV runs on Web, iOS, Android. TunnelBear runs on windows, mac, linux, ios, android.
Can I use TunnelBear for free?
Yes. TunnelBear has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. NEOGOV starts at On request.
What is NEOGOV best used for?
NEOGOV is most often used for a city or county hr department that must run scored examinations and ranked eligibility lists, a public safety agency needing policy acknowledgement records that stand up in litigation, an agency replacing a commercial applicant tracking system that cannot handle veterans preference, a school district or university consolidating recruiting, onboarding and mandated training records. Of those, a city or county hr department that must run scored examinations and ranked eligibility lists and a public safety agency needing policy acknowledgement records that stand up in litigation are not what TunnelBear is typically brought in for.
What can NEOGOV do that TunnelBear cannot?
NEOGOV covers Civil service recruiting, Veterans preference handling, GovernmentJobs.com posting, Onboarding workflows. TunnelBear covers Encrypted VPN tunnel, Server location switching, GhostBear obfuscation, Browser extensions.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

NEOGOV: Why not use a commercial applicant tracking system?

Because civil service rules such as ranked eligibility lists, rule of three certification and veterans preference are not expressible in commercial products, so the statutory steps end up in spreadsheets.

NEOGOV: Can I find out what other agencies pay?

Yes. These are public procurements, so executed contract values appear in council agenda packets and state term contract listings. Read several before negotiating.

NEOGOV: What did NEOGOV acquire?

PowerDMS, a policy management and accreditation product, in 2021, which is now sold as the policy module of the suite.

NEOGOV: Is it only for the United States?

Effectively yes. The value is in encoding US civil service and public safety requirements.

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